Uber staff accused of spying on celebrities and politicians

A former forensic expert for ride hailing company Uber has accused the company's employees of abusing its technology to spy on celebrities, politicians and others.

Samuel Ward Spangenberg is suing Uber in a San Francisco court for alleged age discrimination and whistleblower retaliation, and made the spying claims in a statement to the court in October.

Uber has defended its actions following the accusations, saying that it has "hundreds of security and privacy experts working around the clock" to prevent users from having their data breached.

Through the company's "God View" app, the case alleges that employees can monitor the location of passengers at any given time.

"Uber's lack of security regarding its customer data was resulting in Uber employees being able to track high-profile politicians, celebrities, and even personal acquaintances of Uber employees, including ex-boyfriends/girlfriends, and ex-spouses," Ward Spangenberg told the court.

Earlier this year, the company agreed to settle a case in New York related to usage of the God View technology, with a promise to restrict its employees' access to it.

The forensic expert also claimed that when government bodies were suspicious of Uber's actions, he and others would be tasked with making sure their information was blocked.

"As part of Uber’s incident response team, I would be called when governmental agencies raided Uber’s offices due to concerns regarding noncompliance with governmental regulations," Spangenberg said.

"In those instances, Uber would lock down the office and immediately cut all connectivity so that law enforcement could not access Uber’s information."